1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for operating an electronic device
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices for commercial or private use—including, in particular, telephone terminals but also devices from the field of so-called consumer electronics, i.e. audio and video devices, cameras, organizers etc.—are nowadays increasingly provided with supplementary functions which go beyond the functionality necessary for the operation and are intended to offer advantages in serviceability to the user in order to increase the marketing chances. In many cases, the implementation of such supplementary functions is associated with considerable development and cost expenditure.
In the practical use of such electronic devices with supplementary functionality, however, little utilization of the supplementary functions can be registered in many cases so that the possible advantages of serviceability are not actually realized by the user. One of the causes of this—if not the most important one—can be seen in the fact that the supplementary functions in question are not known to the user at all or if at all, then only as catchphrases, i.e. without any real understanding of their operation and the useful effects that could be achieved by them. In this connection, the psychological effect is also of significance that sometime after the purchase of a new device, the interest in functions going beyond the basic functions clearly diminishes and the supplementary functions not intensively used in the first phase of utilization are increasingly forgotten and are later no longer activated at all.
Especially in the case of modern telephones, both in line-connected feature telephones and in cordless and mobile telephones, a large number of supplementary functions is implemented in order to satisfy the requirements of sophisticated users. These are the following functions, for example:                last number redialling        internal calls        electronic directory        macros        barring        pocket money account        office codes        temporary PD/DTMF switching        call groups        MSN in ISDN        CLIP functions        inquiry, toggling etc.        
Most of the users do not, however, know and use all or not even the most essential supplementary functions. Thus, there is great technical expenditure on functions which, in the final analysis, are little used and the possible advantages in serviceability are not realized.
As a rule, the supplementary functions are listed and explained in operating instructions of the device being discussed (for example of the telephone). Such operating instructions are in many cases of unsatisfactory structure and formulation and, therefore, are not or only superficially read by many users. In the daily use of the device, moreover, they are not continuously available to the user and, in conjunction with the abovementioned diminishing of interest in the functions of the device with increasing length of ownership, the operating instructions are no longer being used at all after some time. Thus, the operating instructions are not a suitable means for moving the user to explore the functions of his device in detail.